I love this Buddha statue. This is the form of Sakyamuni Buddha I grew up with. The sight of it is simply awesome and it gives a calming effect on the viewer. With a size of this magnitude, many people in Thailand and visitors will be able to get a glimpse of this holy image from a distance and be blessed by it. The fact that the Thai people were prepared to spend almost RM10 million to build this statue over a period of 16 years simply shows their deep understanding of the benefits of making enlightened images. A Buddha statue can bless the environment, calm down negative forces and bring peace to the surrounding place. The Thais understand there can never be too great an investment for enlightenment.

Dear everyone, Patsy Lee sent me these beautiful photos of the largest Buddha statue in Thailand!! Wow. It is absolutely breathtaking. Even the pictures are taken in such a surreal manner. Please take a good look and be blessed. Be inspired. I love this so much. I love Thailand, it's form of ...

The practice of animal liberation in Kechara was started by Rinpoche more than a year ago when Rinpoche led a group of students to TTDI Park to release about 200kg of cat fishes meant to be slaughtered for restaurants or market places. From then on, animal liberation became a monthly event where many Kechara members and friends have the opportunity to participate in. Animal liberation is a practice of compassion and kindness for those animals without a voice. It is a Buddhistic practice to purify one’s negative body karma and to prolong one’s life. In Kechara, the merit of animal liberation is dedicated to Rinpoche’s good health and long life, the swift manifestation of Kechara Animal Sanctuary and the good health and long life of Kechara’s members, friends and their family. This another one of Rinpoche’s methods for Compassion in Action.

Once a month Kecharians (kechara members) and guests will put their money together and buy fish from the slaughter market to release. This month, they again purchased 150 kgs of fish, did prayers, blew mantras on to the fish and released them into a nearby large clean lake. It was a wonderful s...

When I saw Yee Ling at the Refuge Ceremony and heard that she has flown across the world to take refuge from Rinpoche, I rejoice from the bottom of my heart for her. I can only imagine the joy and happiness of finally meeting her Guru who has changed her life. It really dawn upon me how lucky we are in Malaysia to be so close to Rinpoche and be able to interact and receive teachings directly from Rinpoche. This I am sure is due to our incredible merits and spiritual aspiration in our past lives and also prayers from the side of Rinpoche to benefit those who have affinity with him. The question is, are we taking full advantage of our favourable conditions (highly qualified Lama at our door step, freedom of religion and peaceful country) to progress in our spiritual practice? If we are not now, we may lose it forever and most likely we may not come across it again because we did not create the cause for it. Scary but true.

Dear Rinpoche, Thank you very much for your compassion and understanding. I cannot express how much it means to take refuge with you. I embark on this spiritual journey with joy and not a little trepidation. With your kind guidance, I know that if I persevere and practice with the right moti...

I think this engraved stone image of Lati Rinpoche is such a thoughtful gift to offer Rinpoche. Lati Rinpoche has always been very close to Rinpoche’s heart as he was one of Rinpoche’s main guru in Gaden monastery. He was instrumental in bringing Rinpoche to Malaysia when he requested Rinpoche to travel abroad to raise funds to build a monk quarters in Pukhang Kamtsen, the sorority house that Rinpoche belonged to in Gaden, to house the refugee monks who escaped from Tibet. Therefore, this stone image has special meaning and I am sure it probably would have brought back many warm memories in Rinpoche of the good times he spent with Lati Rinpoche in Gaden. We Malaysian have a special connection with Lati Rinpoche as it was due to his instruction to Rinpoche that Malaysia has the privilege and honour to host a great Lama such as H.E. Tsem Tulku Rinpoche.

CREATIVE, UNUSUAL AND VERY MEANINGFUL GIFT!!! Bryan who is very talented and creative had this image of Sacred Lati Rinpoche engraved on a piece of Black stone flat stone that comes with a stand. It is around 8 inches in height. It came only after a few days after the passing of Kyabje Lati Ri...

I think this engraved stone image of Lati Rinpoche is such a thoughtful gift to offer Rinpoche. Lati Rinpoche has always been very close to Rinpoche’s heart as he was one of Rinpoche’s main guru in Gaden monastery. He was instrumental in bringing Rinpoche to Malaysia when he requested Rinpoche to travel abroad to raise funds to build a monk quarters in Pukhang Kamtsen, the sorority house that Rinpoche belonged to in Gaden, to house the refugee monks who escaped from Tibet. Therefore, this stone image has special meaning and I am sure it probably would have brought back many warm memories in Rinpoche of the good times he spent with Lati Rinpoche in Gaden. We Malaysian have a special connection with Lati Rinpoche as it was due to his instruction to Rinpoche that Malaysia has the privilege and honour to host a great Lama such as H.E. Tsem Tulku Rinpoche.

CREATIVE, UNUSUAL AND VERY MEANINGFUL GIFT!!! Bryan who is very talented and creative had this image of Sacred Lati Rinpoche engraved on a piece of Black stone flat stone that comes with a stand. It is around 8 inches in height. It came only after a few days after the passing of Kyabje Lati Ri...

It’s very heartening to hear another story of Kechara Soup Kitchen (http://www.kechara.com/soup-kitchen/) making a difference in someone’s life. This is a reflection of compassion that lies deep beneath the staff and volunteers of KSK. It’s not just about providing a pair of safety boots to someone but also being there at the right time and right place to extend help when it was needed. This event did not happen by accident. It is the culmination of KSK’s consistent effort in distributing food to the homeless and continuous effort in connecting with them and gaining their trust. Congratulations to KSK for a job well.

KECHARA SOUP KITCHEN SUCCESS STORY AGAIN!!!! (Report from Justin Cheah of Kechara Soup Kitchen. Every month, many like Shamsul are taken off the streets thru KSK's help) Shamsul (37 years old) sometimes sleeps on the streets and sometimes stays in friends room whenever convenient. He a...

These pictures are so cute and the two friends are simply adorable. The story of these two friends is indeed very touching. Real friendship transcends all barriers. It is the connection of one being to another without considering race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and in this case species. Animals are similar to human beings as they too need love, care and companionship. Animals have feelings and can feel sadness, loneliness and despair. The orang utan and dog above are an example true friendship based on mutual love, care, understanding and harmony with each other. The human race can certainly learn something from them…

Dear Rinpoche, I just got this email and thought it might be something that Rinpoche would like. Perhaps KNN would also like to add it to the website / newsletter? Very, very cute - even animals have more compassion and sense of friendship than some humans Love, Paris **************************...

“Bitterness arises from knowing we have done nothing that has affected anyone in our lives”. This sentence brings back some of my memories from the past. In the past I have always wondered why some people feel bitter and unhappy all the time. I myself had such experiences from time to time but could never put my finger on the real cause. There are people who go through their whole life without finding out why. Recently, Rinpoche told us a story about a dying man who was angry and bitter about his life from one of the books he read. All he could do was to be angry but he didn’t have a clue why he was angry or how to get out of his angersome state. As a result he was in complete misery. A psychiatrist who counseled him soon saw where his problem lies and suggested that maybe he should do something for others. He remembered there was a church nearby that need air-conditioning to be fixed and being an electrician by profession, it was something he could do. The church was simply too happy to accept his service and in the process of doing that his anger subsided. He finally found peace because he felt a sense of worth doing something for others. A few months later, at his death bed he said to the psychiatrist, “thank you for saving my life”. This is a lesson to us that life is simply not how long we live but rather it is the meaning we put into our lives in service of others. Otherwise, bitterness will be the inevitable result if our lives

Nothing is owned by us. Everything will be given, taken, lost, abandoned or forgotten in the end. We came into our current lifetimes with nothing and no matter how much we accumulate, we leave with nothing. So wouldn't it be wise that in between, we develop no real attachments or put so much e...

The Lamrim mind map is one of the most precious items one can own. Lamrim is the stages of the path to enlightenment and the mind map summarizes the main topics so that one can easily get an overview of the entire path to enlightenment. Looking at a Lamrim mind map instantly provide a visual structure of all we need to practice to attain enlightenment in our mind. I think is a fantastic tool for the study and practice of Lamrim as most people can remember things they see better than what they have read. I am one of those people and I love it.

Two of my friends, Lili Ng and Thierry Janssens came out with a creative idea to summarise the Lamrim - in mind map form and offered it up to me in April 2010. This mind map is a overview of one of Buddhism's holiest texts, and the book upon which we base our lineage. They used Liberation in t...

How exciting! The 10 ft Long Life Tsongkapa, 7 ft Vajrayogini and 7 ft Setrap statues will soon be invited to the new KH Gompa. All these images are being commissioned by our very own Kechara Discovery (http://www.kechara.com/discovery/), the Kechara arm responsible for commissioning holy images and organizing pilgrimage tours. Enlightened images is the physical representation of the path to enlightenment and in order for an enlightened image to have blessings, the iconography of the images must be in accordance to the scriptural text of the particular deity. Kechara Discovery ensures that enlightened images commissioned by them meet this criterion so that anyone who sees these images will be blessed and inspired to practice their spiritual path. Kudos to Paul and his team for doing a great job!

Dear Kechara House, Look at these incredibly BEAUTIFUL representations of Englighenment coming to Kechara House soon! We are just awaiting the completion of the renovations on our New Gompa or prayer hall. This is the grand 10 ft Tsongkapa in Long Life form (Je Tse Zinma) that will be inv...

How exciting! The 10 ft Long Life Tsongkapa, 7 ft Vajrayogini and 7 ft Setrap statues will soon be invited to the new KH Gompa. All these images are being commissioned by our very own Kechara Discovery (http://www.kechara.com/discovery/), the Kechara arm responsible for commissioning holy images and organizing pilgrimage tours. Enlightened images is the physical representation of the path to enlightenment and in order for an enlightened image to have blessings, the iconography of the images must be in accordance to the scriptural text of the particular deity. Kechara Discovery ensures that enlightened images commissioned by them meet this criterion so that anyone who sees these images will be blessed and inspired to practice their spiritual path. Kudos to Paul and his team for doing a great job!

Dear Kechara House, Look at these incredibly BEAUTIFUL representations of Englighenment coming to Kechara House soon! We are just awaiting the completion of the renovations on our New Gompa or prayer hall. This is the grand 10 ft Tsongkapa in Long Life form (Je Tse Zinma) that will be inv...

When Rinpoche wanted me to move into a Dharma house more than 2 years ago, I really couldn’t understand why. I was living with my parents ten minutes away from Tsem Ladrang where I work and I didn’t see the point of finding another accommodation. My parents’ house is no five star hotel but I have lived there all my life and was very comfortable staying there. Honestly, I didn’t want to move to anywhere. However, I have come to a point where I know I had to follow what my guru says although I may not be able to understand the rational behind it. I believed Rinpoche knew better and would not ask me to do anything without a good reason. Anyways, what does Rinpoche get by making me move into a Dharma house. Now that I look back, staying in a Dharma does have positive effects. My parents has become less protective of me which was the source of many arguments in the past. They worry less for me and became less protective as they realize I can live on my own independently. It has given my parents a peace of mind knowing that. I think living in a Dharma house is one of the best things I have done for my parents. I can now see Rinpoche’s wisdom of asking me to move into a Dharma house.

Kechara has six Dharma houses - Vajrayogini House, Heruka House, Naropa House, Drakpa House, Tara House and Jamyang House. Their occupants are students of Kechara House, and all are full-time staff in Kechara. Rinpoche set up the Dharma houses so that like-minded people could live together, t...